AMU Emergency Management Homeland Security Opinion Public Safety

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Survival Education: A Grass-Roots Approach

By Alvina Bey Bennett and Elena Siddall

We Prepare America’s St. Paul Experience

We Prepare America came to know the St. Paul’s Baptist Church (Henrico County, Virginia) last summer, when we were exploring possible faith-based venues to do grass-roots citizen Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Survival education.


In our initial meeting with the Rev. Lance Watson we discussed the benefits. He was immediately convinced after we asked how far this mega-church from the Richmond International Airport was. “Two exits on 64” was the answer. We then posed the question,” What if there were an incident at the airport, say a dirty-bomb, and the order went out from the Emergency Management Services-to “shelter-in-place”, and it was Sunday?” On Sundays, there are 3,000 persons at each of the three consecutive services.
We had several subsequent meetings with Rev. Watson and Rev. Jaime Duncan and members of their staff to plan several workshops to address Emergency Preparedness in a focused way, engaging members of the church’s leadership as well as congregants. The goal was to introduce the steps needed to be taken to be considered “prepared”, using our K.I.P. ™ (have a KIT, be INFORMED, have a PLAN) approach.
Our first workshop was held the day before Easter (just before it snowed!) on April 7, 2007 with a presentation to members of the church’s leadership. We physically demonstrated the assembly of an emergency supplies kit, discussing the reasons for the inclusion of each item as we spoke-water, medical supplies, food, tools and miscellaneous items. Our list of items is compiled from the FEMA’s www.ready.gov and Red Cross recommendations.
We then discussed the meaning of “Information” of terms used in disaster management instructions to civilians, i.e. kinds of possible disasters, recommended measures to be taken, terms such as “shelter-in-place”, and the meaning of the Department of Homeland Security’s alert color code.
After discussing what a “Plan” entails and how the planning process can be easily made a part of family discussions as well as congregational care activities, we followed up with discussion of the content of numerous hand-outs, brochures, and pamphlets (FEMA and Red Cross).
The reception was overwhelmingly positive, and another work-shop was planned, targeting the substantial senior population of the congregation. On April 28th, we repeated the demonstration, this time focusing on the elderly specifically, who may be on restricted diets, have need to have refrigerated medicines and have limited mobility related to disabilities or other medical conditions.
We handed out a one-page, 19-item questionnaire at the beginning of our presentation, also requesting individual input, “What do you want local officials to know about your emergency preparedness preparednessand disaster survival needs and what is most important to you as a citizen? Please explain”. The purpose was to elicit information regarding the level of preparedness perceived by individual of themselves. The questions related to having a 3-day supply of water, food and emergency items, knowledge of the local emergency plan, having one’s own plans for recovery, as well as willingness to receive vaccines and go to a public shelter.
The group of about 120, mostly elderly female African-Americans was somber, but most receptive. Of the 100 questionnaires distributed, 45 were returned. Of these, 23 individuals would be termed as “prepared”, and another 11 as “partially prepared”. While our analysis of the survey is cursory at this point, the answers indicate an overall lack of preparedness. 18 positive responses to receiving vaccine and going to a public shelter; additionally 11 would receive vaccine but not go to a shelter, and 12 would go to the shelter, but not receive a vaccine.
There were 4 additional comments or suggestions related to perception of inequality in access to emergency services-one raised a concern about oxygen-dependency.
We brought numerous hand-outs which flew off the table instantly! People pleaded for additional materials. This aspect of the experience is noteworthy. In general, Emergency Management authorities may assume that available information is sufficient, as well as being sufficiently available. While we routinely and frequently instruct participants to “Go to ready.gov,” it is consistently observed that when content of printed material is discussed prior to distribution of that material, interest in acquiring the material and additional information is greatly increased. All presentations to date, have reinforced the observation that face-to-face dialogue and direct interaction are crucial to influencing behavioral changes and thus perhaps, the level of preparedness among citizens. To date, there is no focused emergency preparedness and disaster survival outreach that tells and shows individuals in simple, understandable terms how to prepare a Kit, acquire crucial Information and devise a Plan.
Faith communities are a perfect venue for such education. Religious organizations are an integral part of most communities and play major roles in the collective well being of the community, especially when disaster strikes. While we emphasize that preparing for emergencies and disasters is an individual and collective responsibility, education, training and active participation must include faith- and community-based organizations.
We are convinced that continuing delays in engaging citizens actively in the process of planning before disasters occur and predicting how they will or should respond, are cause for concern. On August 3, 2006, Ted Koppel of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, stated, “Here’s what scares me: One of these days, we’re going to have another catastrophe in this country. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready.” Mr. Koppel talked about how people like himself, at the grass-roots level, are not prepared. He further stated, “Preparing for a disaster is neither rocket science nor brain surgery. It is making sure that people at the grass-roots level know what to do. There are some very simple things we could be doing that would cover a variety of catastrophes.” “What are emergency professionals waiting for?” We Prepare American, Inc. recognizing that a vast number of people are still not ready for any event, whether natural or manmade, remains convinced, committed and determined to develop and implement faith- and community-based emergency and disaster preparedness education campaigns across the nation. God helps those who help themselves.

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